London 2012 Paralympics: Swimming guide

Read Telegraph Sport's guide to the swimming event at the London 2012
Paralympics.

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Gold potential: Team GB's Lizzie Simpkin in action at the 2008 Beijing Games, she will be hoping for gold in 2012Photo: GETTY IMAGES

5:54PM BST 24 Aug 2012

How to play

The sport follows the rules of able-body swimming with a few adjustments such as optional platform or water starts for certain races and the use of signals to help make visually impaired athletes aware of an upcoming turn. All races take place in a 50m pool and the winner is the person to complete the race in the quickest time.

The four main strokes are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly and swimmers are classified according to how their disability affects their ability to perform a stroke. The sport is open to all disability groups including those with spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, amputations and progressive diseases.

Those athletes with visual impairments must wear blackened goggles to ensure no one competitor has an unfair advantage.

S1 to S10 are those with physical impairment, with S1 being the most severe. S11 to S13 are those with visual impairment, with S11 being those with little or no vision. S 14 are those with intellectual impairment.

The three categories of events have a letter code in front of them. These are:

Like able-body swimming, a good level of overall conditioning is required as athletes use various muscles during competition. Similarly, races are often won and lost on the turn - known as the fifth stroke.

A good start - whether it be on a platform or in water - requires quick reactions. Failure to react to the start of the race can leave swimmers struggling to make up the time.

Blind swimmers must react to tappers who tap the sides of the pool to make athletes aware that a turn is approaching.

Watch

Facts (and phrases)

The sport has appeared at every Paralympics since the first Games in 1960 and at London 2012 will have the second largest amount of athletes (350 men and 250 women) and events (148). The first international games for disabled people were held in 1948.

Legends

During a 17 year career Marc Woods won 12 medals from five Paralympic Games and a further 21 from World and European Championships. South Africas Natalie Du Toit won five gold medals at the her first Games in 2004 and made history four years later by competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

British stars

Eleanor Simmonds won two gold medals in the 100m and 400m S6 freestyle aged 13 at the 2008 Beijing Games. Brothers Sam and Oliver Hynd compete in the several of the same events - S8 100m butterfly, 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke. Matt Walker and Liz Johnson will also be ones to watch.

British chances

At the 2008 Beijing Games, Team GB finished joint fourth with 11 gold medals and will be looking to improve on this tally on home soil and are capable of doing so, but will face strong competition from the United States and China - who are both traditionally very strong in this sport.

International rivals

America, who won 17 golds in the Beijing Games, China, who won 13, and Canada.